The initiative aimed to promote improved skin care in industrial and commercial organisations. The objective of the campaign was to significantly reduce the incidence of work-related dermatitis. The campaign was successful and HSE statistics show that the incidence of work-related dermatitis is reducing.

A brochure was the main vehicle for the initiative and has been widely used throughout the UK.

2013 Update

The majority of work-related skin disease cases are preventable by adopting simple steps to manage risks in the workplace; effective skin care is an important part of any regime, along with applying simple exposure reduction methods.

A new initiative, Health Risks at Work, led by Safety Groups UK (SG UK) in partnership with HSE and supported by RoSPA and others has identified skin as one of five areas of focus for improving awareness and education of health risks at work.

There are still approximately 40,000 new diagnoses of work-related skin disease per year. The contributors to this initiative still believe that this is the tip of the iceberg and that many cases still go unreported. Of the 2055 cases reported via physicians and dermatologists in 2010, 73% of cases were contact dermatitis and 19% were skin cancer.